My transient life is a short journey and impermanent.
Be Compassionate. Be Grateful. Be Humble. Be Loving.
Enjoy my moment and smile when it is time to say goodbye.

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Things I like about Singapore

Whenever I returned from a long overseas trip, I always see Singapore in a new light at least for a while. It always surprises me that there are many things that I took for granted. Traveling has the ability to let us see things in new perspectives. That's the beauty of traveling.

I met a friend who was studying in Australia and she was lamenting how she loved the lifestyle in Australia and would stay in Australia after her studies. She has developed a distaste for the lifestyle in Singapore.

While I could comprehend the beauty of Australia and the beauty of its more laid back lifestyle, I also develop a sense of appreciation for Singapore as I travel more. There are certainly a lot of things I hope Singapore could improve on - arts & culture, creativity of its people (less homogeneous) , freedom of expression, less emphasis materialism, environmental friendliness etc... And when my travel-mate shared with me about the warm hospitality she experienced in Chile, I really envy the Chileans and hope Singaporeans could improve on that. Something to learn.

However, these are the things I really like about Singapore:

1. Cheap and Good Food.

(available anywhere anytime. It's clean!)

2. Efficiency Efficiency Efficiency

(Things get done FAST and GOOD! I managed to close my brokerage account in hours. It took me less an hour of application time to replace my identity card. I got a reply for my insurance claim within 2 days. It takes only a few hours to incorporate a company in Singapore, how many countries in the world can match that? That's why Singaporean are generally impatient when things are delayed.)

3. Safety

(Any lady could walk on any street in Singapore at 3am and feel really safe. Recently, I was walking in a back alley of a red-light district at night, and a pimp shouted at me when I wanted to take a photograph. I was a bit shock, but I never felt my life was at jeopardy. That's a amazing. )

4. Low Corruption

(There is still corruption, but it is a rarity. I know that I do not need to bribe to get things done.)

5. Kind hearted and Nice people

(Singaporeans might not be the most cultured and courteous people around, but people in general are nice and kind-hearted. Singaporeans are known to get conned easily overseas, simply because we are more simple-minded.)

(While we do not have mountains and waterfalls, those places are only a flight away. There are so many cheap flights available. Being the richest country in our region, we get to travel in beautiful neighboring countries without burning a hole in our pockets.)